Nelson County Rocks

This was our first season growing potatoes, and I’d decided–to Monika’s skepticism–to try growing “straw potatoes,” which replaces dirt hilling of potato plants with a layer of straw.  However, following Barbara Damrosch’s advice in The Garden Primer, I planted the potatoes just barely beneath the soil surface, instead of on top, as is often done in straw potato culture.

In any case, my potatoes gave me a scare through the spring and early summer, as the plants grew healthily but no potatoes seemed evident below the straw I piled on.  But Monika was convinced that there had to be potatoes there, and so today she and I went down to the potato patch, pitchfork  and broadfork in hand, and found that there were indeed lots of potatoes, but they’d chosen to grow underground rather than above in the straw.  (This probably means that I planted the potatoes a little too deeply, but all’s well that ends well and I’ve concurred with Monika that we should revert to more traditional hilling practice next year.)

Our harvest for four of our almost 80 plants was about ten pounds of potatoes, which suggests an eventual harvest of well over 200 pounds.  Most importantly, at dinner tonight the Satina early-season potatoes we harvested left our store-bought potatoes in the dust (and headed for the compost pile, such was the difference).  In addition to the remaining Satina, three other varieties of German origin are due to follow: Romanz, Carola, and German Butterball, all from the Maine Potato Lady.

Note: The dinner picture above also includes pesto made from garden Thai and lemon basil and garlic; a sauté of garden onion, garlic, swiss chard, squash, and tomatoes; and three varieties of garden tomatoes.  Hard to eat much more local than that!

We’ve been in a heat spell for a while now, with temperatures well into the 90s and rainfall irregular and reduced.  This has speeded up some things and stressed others.  I was concerned that my two beds of garlic were showing signs of drying up, but then (fortunately) received an email newsletter from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange noting that their garlic had matured early this year.  So I went ahead and harvested the four types of garlic I’d planted: Brown Tempest and Music (both hardneck garlics) and Inchelium Red and S&H Silverskin (both softneck garlics), as well as white onions.   I let them dry off in the sun for a day or two, and then moved them on screens into the garage to cure.

Today, Nic and Alison and two friends joined Monika and me in a garlic tasting exercise.  The unanimous sentiment was that while mild differences could be detected, it was hard to describe them and all were excellent.  (However, from the point of view of easy peeling, I much prefer the hardneck garlics.)  The 100 garlic bulbs harvested should get us through the next year, we hope!

Tomato season has happily begun, with Paul Robesons, Brandywines, and determinate yellow and orange tomatoes being the first to mature.  But the Eden-like quality of last year’s garden has not been replicated this year.  We’re having significant pest problems, especially with cucumber beetles and squash bugs, which have pretty much done in my first plantings of zucchini and other summer squash.  Tomatoes have been taking a hit from crows, various insects, and the (amazingly large and voracious) tomato hornworm caterpillar, and my pole beans by Mexican bean beetles.  One must learn to share, I guess….  BTW, for anyone pondering the complicated relationship between gardening and nature, I highly recommend Michael Pollan’s Second Nature: A Gardener’s Education.  It’s funny, informative, and deeply smart.

Planting for our spring garden began last fall, when we planted garlic and onions in October.  After an unusually snowy winter, we planted in March peas, turnips,  a variety of greens, including lettuce, an Asian “stir-fry” mix, and collards, and have been munching on these since April.  (We also planted potatoes, which have recently been in bloom.) The pea season pretty much ended this week, but we’ve both enjoyed fresh and frozen away abundant garden, snow, and snap peas.  Today I pulled out most of the peas and replaced them with a second planting of pole beans (the first planting is already almost up to the top of the trellis).  And as if to symbolize the transition to summer vegetables, a half-dozen or so of golden and green zucchini will be ready to pick tomorrow!

Who will be the first to identify the curving stalk in this picture?
(Hint: it’s a current rage among foodies)